The red-veined darter or nomad is a dragonfly of the genus Sympetrum.
Image: Darter August 2007 20
Image: Red veined darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) female Cyprus
Head of female showing blue/grey underside of eyes and black and yellow legs
Pale pterostigma with border of black veins
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threatens dragonfly populations around the world. Adult dragonflies are characterised by a pair of large, multifaceted, compound eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, sometimes with coloured patches, and an elongated body. Many dragonflies have brilliant iridescent or metallic colours produced by structural coloration, making them conspicuous in flight. An adult dragonfly's compound eyes have nearly 24,000 ommatidia each.
Dragonfly
The giant Upper Carboniferous dragonfly relative, Meganeura monyi, attained a wingspan around 680 millimetres (27 inches). (Museum of Toulouse)
Mesurupetala, Late Jurassic (Tithonian), Solnhofen limestone (Germany)
An aggregation of globe skimmers, Pantala flavescens, during migration
